Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the communication mailed on 2/19/2026 and applicant has submitted an amendment, filed on 5/18/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 21-23, 25-28, 30-35, 37-43 filed on 5/18/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 21-23, 25-28, 30-35, 37-43 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication 20230116047 (hereinafter referred to as Nakazawa).
Consider claim 21, Nakazawa teaches a method, comprising:
sending, by a first sensing network element (see at least ¶ [0099], Fig. 10, “…management server 3…”), a sensing control request message to a second sensing network element (see at least ¶ [0099], Fig. 10, “…UGV 2…”), wherein the sensing control request message requests the second sensing network element to perform a sensing operation, the sensing control request message comprises sensing control information (see at least ¶ [0099], Fig. 10, “…the management server 3 transmits movement control information including a movement command for moving the UGV 2 to the point determined…”), and the second sensing network element performs the sensing operation in accordance with the sensing control information (see at least ¶ [0100], “…upon acquiring the movement control information from the management server 3, the UGV 2 starts moving toward the point (step S29). Next, when arriving at the point indicated by the movement control information (step S30), the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start ground sensing, and acquires ground sensing data obtained by performing ground sensing (step S31)…”);
receiving, by the first sensing network element, first sensing data from the second sensing network element (see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UGV 2 transmits the ground sensing data acquired in step S31 and the traveling object ID of the UGV 2 to the management server 3 via the communication network NW (step S32)…”); and
providing, by the first sensing network element, a first sensing service based on the first sensing data (see at least ¶ [0101], “…upon acquiring the ground sensing data and the traveling object ID, the management server 3 matches the long-distance sensing data with the ground sensing data, and detects the target area extracted in step S26 from the ground sensing data (step S33)…”), wherein the providing the first sensing service comprises:
sending, by the first sensing network element, second sensing data of the first sensing service to a first network element based on the first sensing data, the second sensing data being different from the first sensing data (see at least ¶ [0101], “…the management server 3 transmits movement control information including a movement command for moving the UGV 2 to the target area detected in step S33 to the UGV 2 via the communication network NW (step S34)…”).
Consider claim 28, Nakazawa teaches a method, comprising:
receiving, by a second sensing network element (see at least ¶ [0099], Fig. 10, “…UGV 2…”), a sensing control request message from a first sensing network element (see at least ¶ [0099], Fig. 10, “…management server 3…”), wherein the sensing control request message requests the second sensing network element to perform a sensing operation, the sensing control request message comprises sensing control information (see at least ¶ [0099], Fig. 10, “…the management server 3 transmits movement control information including a movement command for moving the UGV 2 to the point determined…”), and the second sensing network element performs the sensing operation in accordance with the sensing control information (see at least ¶ [0100], “…upon acquiring the movement control information from the management server 3, the UGV 2 starts moving toward the point (step S29). Next, when arriving at the point indicated by the movement control information (step S30), the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start ground sensing, and acquires ground sensing data obtained by performing ground sensing (step S31)…”);
performing, by the second sensing network element, the sensing operation based on the sensing control request message, to obtain first sensing data (see at least ¶ [0100], “…upon acquiring the movement control information from the management server 3, the UGV 2 starts moving toward the point (step S29). Next, when arriving at the point indicated by the movement control information (step S30), the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start ground sensing, and acquires ground sensing data obtained by performing ground sensing (step S31)…”); and
sending, by the second sensing network element, the first sensing data to the first sensing network element, wherein the first sensing network element sends second sensing data to a first network element based on the first sensing data, the second sensing data being different from the first sensing data (see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UGV 2 transmits the ground sensing data acquired in step S31 and the traveling object ID of the UGV 2 to the management server 3 via the communication network NW (step S32)…” and further see at least ¶ [0101], “…the processes of steps S35 to S40 illustrated in FIG. 10 are similar to the processes of steps S8 to S13 illustrated in FIG. 9…”).
Consider claim 33, Nakazawa teaches a communication apparatus (see at least ¶ [0073], Fig. 7, “…management server 3…”), comprising:
a transceiver (see at least ¶ [0073], Fig. 7, “…communication unit 31…”);
at least one processor (see at least ¶ [0073], Fig. 7, “…a control unit 33…” and see at least ¶ [0076], “…The control unit 33 includes a CPU, which is a processor…”); and
one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to cause the communication apparatus to perform operations (see at least ¶ [0073], Fig. 7, “…a storage unit 32…” and see at least ¶ [0076], “…The control unit 33 includes a CPU, which is a processor, a ROM, a RAM, a non-volatile memory, and the like. The control unit 33 functions as a sensing data acquisition unit…”, where 33a-33e in Fig. 8) including:
sending a sensing control request message to a second sensing network element (see at least ¶ [0099], Fig. 10, “…the management server 3 transmits movement control information including a movement command for moving the UGV 2 to the point determined…”), wherein the sensing control request message requests the second sensing network element to perform a sensing operation, the sensing control request message comprises sensing control information, and the second sensing network element performs the sensing operation in accordance with the sensing control information (see at least ¶ [0100], “…upon acquiring the movement control information from the management server 3, the UGV 2 starts moving toward the point (step S29). Next, when arriving at the point indicated by the movement control information (step S30), the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start ground sensing, and acquires ground sensing data obtained by performing ground sensing (step S31)…”);
receiving first sensing data from the second sensing network element (see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UGV 2 transmits the ground sensing data acquired in step S31 and the traveling object ID of the UGV 2 to the management server 3 via the communication network NW (step S32)…”); and
providing a first sensing service based on the first sensing data (see at least ¶ [0101], “…upon acquiring the ground sensing data and the traveling object ID, the management server 3 matches the long-distance sensing data with the ground sensing data, and detects the target area extracted in step S26 from the ground sensing data (step S33)…”), wherein the providing the first sensing service comprises:
sending second sensing data of the first sensing service to a first network element based on the first sensing data, the second sensing data being different from the first sensing data (see at least ¶ [0101], “…the management server 3 transmits movement control information including a movement command for moving the UGV 2 to the target area detected in step S33 to the UGV 2 via the communication network NW (step S34)…”).
Consider claim 40, Nakazawa teaches a communication apparatus (see at least ¶ [0059], “…UGV 2…”), comprising:
a transceiver (see at least ¶ [0059], “…a radio communication unit 22…”);
at least one processor (see at least ¶ [0059], “…a control unit 25…” and see at least ¶ [0067], “…The control unit 25 includes a CPU…”); and
one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to cause the communication apparatus to perform operations including (see at least ¶ [0067], “…The control unit 25 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a non-volatile memory, and the like…”):
receiving a sensing control request message from a first sensing network element, wherein the sensing control request message requests the communication apparatus to perform a sensing operation, the sensing control request message comprises sensing control information (see at least ¶ [0099], Fig. 10, “…the management server 3 transmits movement control information including a movement command for moving the UGV 2 to the point determined…”), and the communication apparatus performs the sensing operation in accordance with the sensing control information (see at least ¶ [0100], “…upon acquiring the movement control information from the management server 3, the UGV 2 starts moving toward the point (step S29). Next, when arriving at the point indicated by the movement control information (step S30), the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start ground sensing, and acquires ground sensing data obtained by performing ground sensing (step S31)…”);
performing the sensing operation based on the sensing control request message, to obtain first sensing data (see at least ¶ [0100], “…upon acquiring the movement control information from the management server 3, the UGV 2 starts moving toward the point (step S29). Next, when arriving at the point indicated by the movement control information (step S30), the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start ground sensing, and acquires ground sensing data obtained by performing ground sensing (step S31)…”); and
sending the first sensing data to the first sensing network element, wherein the first sensing network element sends second sensing data to a first network element based on the first sensing data, the second sensing data being different from the first sensing data (see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UGV 2 transmits the ground sensing data acquired in step S31 and the traveling object ID of the UGV 2 to the management server 3 via the communication network NW (step S32)…” and further see at least ¶ [0101], “…the processes of steps S35 to S40 illustrated in FIG. 10 are similar to the processes of steps S8 to S13 illustrated in FIG. 9…”).
Consider claims 22, 34 (depends on at least claims 21, 33), Nakazawa discloses the limitations of claims 21, 33 as applied to claim rejection 21, 33 above and further discloses:
Nakazawa teaches receiving, by the first sensing network element (see at least ¶ [0095], “…the management server 3 transmits movement control information including a movement command for moving the UGV 2 to the target area extracted in step S6 to the UGV 2 via the communication network NW…” and see at least ¶ [0099], Fig. 10, “…management server 3…”), a request message from the first network element, wherein the request message requests the first sensing service, and the first network element is a core network element, an external application server, or a terminal device (see at least ¶ [0099], Fig. 10, “…the management server 3 transmits movement control information including a movement command for moving the UGV 2 to the point determined…”).
Consider claims 23, 35 (depends on at least claims 21, 33), Nakazawa discloses the limitations of claims 21, 33 as applied to claim rejection 21, 33 above and further discloses:
Nakazawa teaches wherein the request message carries a service type of the first sensing service (see at least ¶ [0100], “…upon acquiring the movement control information from the management server 3, the UGV 2 starts moving toward the point (step S29). Next, when arriving at the point indicated by the movement control information (step S30), the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start ground sensing, and acquires ground sensing data obtained by performing ground sensing (step S31). Next, the UGV 2 transmits the ground sensing data acquired in step S31 and the traveling object ID of the UGV 2…”).
Consider claims 25, 37 (depends on at least claims 21, 33), Nakazawa discloses the limitations of claims 21, 33 as applied to claim rejection 21, 33 above and further discloses:
Nakazawa teaches wherein the sensing control information comprises: a region sensing indication; or the region sensing indication and a second sensing region (see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UGV 2 starts moving toward the point (step S29). Next, when arriving at the point indicated by the movement control information (step S30), the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start ground sensing, and acquires ground sensing data obtained by performing ground sensing (step S31)…”).
Consider claims 26, 38 (depends on at least claims 21, 33), Nakazawa discloses the limitations of claims 21, 33 as applied to claim rejection 21, 33 above and further discloses:
Nakazawa teaches wherein the sensing control information comprises: a user equipment (UE) sensing indication and a second sensing UE identifier; the UE sensing indication and UE location information; or the UE sensing indication, the second sensing UE identifier, and the UE location information (see at least ¶ [0096], “…start short-distance sensing, and acquires short-distance sensing data obtained by performing short-distance sensing on a whole or a part of the target area…” and see at least ¶ [0099], “…the management server 3 determines a point where the UGV 2 enters within the range of the long-distance sensing performed by the UAV 1 …” and see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UGV 2 starts moving toward the point (step S29). Next, when arriving at the point indicated by the movement control information (step S30), the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start ground sensing, and acquires ground sensing data obtained by performing ground sensing (step S31)…”).
Consider claims 27, 38 (depends on at least claims 21, 33), Nakazawa discloses the limitations of claims 21, 33 as applied to claim rejection 21, 33 above and further discloses:
Nakazawa teaches wherein the sensing control information comprises: a continuous tracking indication; the continuous tracking indication and a second sensing UE identifier; the continuous tracking indication and location information of a target object; or the continuous tracking indication and a second sensing region (see at least ¶ [0047], “…to improve the accuracy of the long-distance sensing, the long-distance sensing may be continuously performed in time series, and a time interval of the long-distance sensing may be a regular interval or an irregular interval…” and see at least ¶ [0053], “…The long-distance sensing data may be raw detection data output from the sensor unit 13 or may be data analyzed and processed based on the output raw detection data…”).
Consider claim 30 (depends on at least claim 28), Nakazawa discloses the limitations of claim 28 as applied to claim rejection 28 above and further discloses:
Nakazawa teaches wherein the sensing control information comprises one or more of:
a second sensing distance, a second sensing region, a second sensing speed range, a second sensing distance resolution, second sensing angle measurement precision, a second sensing speed resolution, a second sensing quality of service (QoS) requirement, a second sensing location point, a second sensing user equipment (UE) identifier, second sensing time information, second sensing object identification accuracy, a false alarm rate of second sensing object identification, second sensing data precision, a second sensing data update frequency, a second sensing dimension indication, a sensing detection periodicity, or a second sensing feedback manner (see at least ¶ [0096], “…start short-distance sensing, and acquires short-distance sensing data obtained by performing short-distance sensing on a whole or a part of the target area…”).
Consider claim 31 (depends on at least claim 28), Nakazawa discloses the limitations of claim 28 as applied to claim rejection 28 above and further discloses:
Nakazawa teaches wherein the sensing control information comprises: a region sensing indication; or the region sensing indication and a second sensing region (see at least ¶ [0096], “…start short-distance sensing, and acquires short-distance sensing data obtained by performing short-distance sensing on a whole or a part of the target area…” and see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UGV 2 starts moving toward the point (step S29). Next, when arriving at the point indicated by the movement control information (step S30), the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start ground sensing, and acquires ground sensing data obtained by performing ground sensing (step S31)…”).
Consider claim 32 (depends on at least claim 28), Nakazawa discloses the limitations of claim 28 as applied to claim rejection 28 above and further discloses:
Nakazawa teaches wherein the sensing control information comprises: a UE sensing indication and a second sensing UE identifier; the UE sensing indication and UE location information; or the UE sensing indication, the second sensing UE identifier, and the UE location information (see at least ¶ [0096], “…start short-distance sensing, and acquires short-distance sensing data obtained by performing short-distance sensing on a whole or a part of the target area…” and see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UGV 2 starts moving toward the point (step S29). Next, when arriving at the point indicated by the movement control information (step S30), the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start ground sensing, and acquires ground sensing data obtained by performing ground sensing (step S31)…”).
Consider claim 41 (depends on at least claim 21), Nakazawa discloses the limitations of claim 21 as applied to claim rejection 21 above and further discloses:
Nakazawa teaches wherein the second sensing network element is a base station or a UE processing sensing data from a target UE (see at least ¶ [0039], “…The UAV 1 and the UGV 2 can individually communicate with the management server 3 via a communication network NW. The communication network NW includes, for example, the Internet, a mobile communication network, a radio base station thereof, and the like…”).
Consider claim 42 (depends on at least claim 21), Nakazawa discloses the limitations of claim 21 as applied to claim rejection 21 above and further discloses:
Nakazawa teaches wherein the first sensing network element obtains the sensing control information based on at least one of a service type or a service requirement of the first sensing service received from the first network element, and wherein the first sensing network element obtains the second sensing data by determining, based on the first sensing data, that an event is triggered, and sending the second sensing data to the first network element in response to determining that the event is triggered (see at least ¶ [0096], “…the UGV 2 activates the sensor unit 23 to start short-distance sensing, and acquires short-distance sensing data obtained by performing short-distance sensing on a whole or a part of the target area…” and see at least ¶ [0100], “…the ground sensing data acquired in step S31 and the traveling object ID of the UGV 2…”).
Consider claim 43 (depends on at least claim 21), Nakazawa discloses the limitations of claim 21 as applied to claim rejection 21 above and further discloses:
Nakazawa teaches wherein the first sensing data is at least one of: a time- domain digital signal, distance-speed spectrum information, location information and a speed value of a scattering point, or location information and a speed value of a target object (see at least ¶ [0015], “…the control unit causes the traveling object to continuously perform sensing of the target area a plurality of times while moving the traveling object so that data on the entire target area is included in the second sensing data…”).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUONG A NGO whose telephone number is (571)270-7264. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 5:30AM-3:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony S Addy can be reached at (571) 272-7795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHUONG A NGO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
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